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William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial
satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...
,
social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...
,
editorial cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...
ist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects", and he is perhaps best known for his series ''
A Harlot's Progress ''A Harlot's Progress'' (also known as ''The Harlot's Progress'') is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) H ...
'', ''
A Rake's Progress ''A Rake's Progress'' (or ''The Rake's Progress'') is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–1734, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series ...
'' and '' Marriage A-la-Mode''. Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as "Hogarthian". Hogarth was born in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to a lower-middle-class family. In his youth he took up an
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...
with an engraver, but did not complete the apprenticeship. His father underwent periods of mixed fortune, and was at one time imprisoned in lieu of outstanding debts, an event that is thought to have informed William's paintings and prints with a hard edge. Influenced by French and Italian painting and engraving, Hogarth's works are mostly satirical caricatures, sometimes bawdily sexual, mostly of the first rank of realistic portraiture. They became widely popular and mass-produced via prints in his lifetime, and he was by far the most significant English artist of his generation.
Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...
deemed Hogarth's images to be books, filled with "the teeming, fruitful, suggestive meaning of words. Other pictures we look at; his pictures we read."


Early life

William Hogarth was born at Bartholomew Close in London to Richard Hogarth, a poor
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
school teacher and textbook writer, and Anne Gibbons. In his youth he was apprenticed to the engraver Ellis Gamble in
Leicester Fields Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
, where he learned to engrave
trade card A trade card is a square or rectangular card that is small, but bigger than the modern visiting card, and is exchanged in social circles, that a business distributes to clients and potential customers, as a kind of business card. Trade cards fi ...
s and similar products. Young Hogarth also took a lively interest in the street life of the metropolis and the London fairs, and amused himself by sketching the characters he saw. Around the same time, his father, who had opened an unsuccessful Latin-speaking
coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...
at
St John's Gate St John's Gate, in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, now within central London, is one of the few tangible remains from Clerkenwell's monastic past. It was built in 1504 by Prior Thomas Docwra as the south entrance to the inner precinct of Clerkenwell Prio ...
, was imprisoned for debt in the Fleet Prison for five years. Hogarth never spoke of his father's imprisonment. In 1720, Hogarth enrolled at the original
St Martin's Lane Academy The St Martin's Lane Academy, a precursor of the Royal Academy, was organised in 1735 by William Hogarth, from the circle of artists and designers who gathered at Slaughter's Coffee House at the upper end of St Martin's Lane, London. The artisti ...
in Peter Court, London, which was run by
Louis Chéron Louis Chéron (2 September 1660 – 26 May 1725) was a French painter, illustrator and art tutor. Life Chéron was born in Paris, into a French Protestant family of artists (his father being the miniaturist and engraver Henri Chéron and his el ...
and
John Vanderbank John Vanderbank (9 September 1694 – 23 December 1739)Waterhouse, Ellis. ''Painting in Britain 1530–1790'' (Penguin Books, 1957). was a leading English portrait painter who enjoyed a high reputation during the last decade of George I of Gr ...
. He attended alongside other future leading figures in art and design, such as
Joseph Highmore Joseph Highmore (13 June 1692 – 3 March 1780) was an England, English painter of Portrait painting, portraits, conversation pieces and History painting, history subjects, illustrator and author. After retiring from his career as a painter ...
,
William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
, and Arthur Pond. However, the academy seems to have stopped operating in 1724, at around the same time that Vanderbank fled to France in order to avoid creditors. Hogarth recalled of the first incarnation of the academy: "this lasted a few years but the treasurer sinking the subscription money the lamp stove etc were seized for rent and the whole affair put a stop to." Hogarth then enrolled in another drawing school, in
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
, shortly after it opened in November 1724, which was run by
Sir James Thornhill Sir James Thornhill (25 July 1675 or 1676 – 4 May 1734) was an English painter of historical subjects working in the Italian baroque tradition. He was responsible for some large-scale schemes of murals, including the "Painted Hall" at the Ro ...
,
serjeant painter The Serjeant Painter was an honourable and lucrative position as court painter with the English monarch. It carried with it the prerogative of painting and gilding all of the King's residences, coaches, banners, etc. and it grossed over £1,000 ...
to the king. On Thornhill, Hogarth later claimed that, even as an apprentice, "the painting of St Pauls and gree ich hospital … were during this time runing in my head", referring to the massive schemes of decoration painted by Thornhill for the dome of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, and Greenwich Hospital. Hogarth became a member of the
Rose and Crown Club The Rose and Crown Club was a club for artists, collectors and connoisseurs of art in early 18th-century London, England. History The Rose and Crown Club "for Eminent Artificers of this Nation" was formed by 1704, when the engraver George Vertue ...
, with
Peter Tillemans Peter Tillemans ( 1684 – 5 December 1734)Noakes, Aubrey, ''Sportsmen in a Landscape'' (Ayer Publishing, 1971, )pp. 47–56: ''Peter Tillemans and Early Newmarket''at books.google.com, accessed 7 February 2009. ONDB writes: "In 1733 Tillemans re ...
,
George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...
,
Michael Dahl Michael Dahl (1659–1743) was a Swedish portrait painter who lived and worked in England most of his career and died there. He was one of the most internationally known Swedish painters of his time. He painted portraits of many aristocrats and s ...
, and other artists and connoisseurs.


Career

By April 1720, Hogarth was an engraver in his own right, at first engraving coats of arms and shop bills and designing plates for booksellers. In 1727, he was hired by Joshua Morris, a tapestry worker, to prepare a design for the ''Element of Earth''. Morris heard that he was "an engraver, and no painter", and consequently declined the work when completed. Hogarth accordingly sued him for the money in the Westminster Court, where the case was decided in his favour on 28 May 1728.Ronald Paulson, ''Hogarth'', vol. 3 (New Brunswick 1993), pp. 213–216.


Early works

Early satirical works included an ''
Emblematical Print on the South Sea Scheme ''Emblematical Print on the South Sea Scheme'' (also known as ''The South Sea Scheme'') is an early print by William Hogarth, created in 1721 and widely published from 1724. It caricatures the financial speculation, corruption and credulity tha ...
'' (c. 1721, published 1724), about the disastrous stock market crash of 1720, known as the
South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
, in which many English people lost a great deal of money. In the bottom left corner, he shows
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
,
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, and
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
figures gambling, while in the middle there is a huge machine, like a merry-go-round, which people are boarding. At the top is a goat, written below which is "Who'l Ride". The people are scattered around the picture with a sense of disorder, while the progress of the well dressed people towards the ride in the middle shows the foolishness of the crowd in buying stock in the
South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
, which spent more time issuing stock than anything else. Other early works include ''The Lottery'' (1724); '' The Mystery of Masonry brought to Light by the Gormagons'' (1724); '' A Just View of the British Stage'' (1724); some book illustrations; and the small print ''
Masquerades and Operas ''The Bad Taste of the Town'' (also known as ''Masquerades and Operas'') is an early print by William Hogarth, published in February 1723/24. The small print – by – mocks the contemporary fashion for foreign culture, including Palladian ...
'' (1724). The latter is a satire on contemporary follies, such as the masquerades of the Swiss impresario
John James Heidegger John James (Johann Jacob) Heidegger (19 June 1666 – 5 September 1749) was a Swiss count and leading impresario of masquerades in the early part of the 18th century. The son of Zürich clergyman Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Johann Jacob Heidegger ...
, the popular Italian
opera singers Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...
,
John Rich John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After d ...
's pantomimes at
Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...
, and the exaggerated popularity of
Lord Burlington Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England in 1664 and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831. Since 1858, Earl of Burlington has been a courtesy title used by the duke ...
's protégé, the architect and painter
William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
. He continued that theme in 1727, with the '' Large Masquerade Ticket''. In 1726, Hogarth prepared twelve large engravings illustrating Samuel Butler's ''
Hudibras ''Hudibras'' is a vigorous satirical poem, written in a mock-heroic style by Samuel Butler (1613–1680), and published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678. The action is set in the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediately b ...
''. These he himself valued highly, and they are among his best early works, though they are based on small book illustrations. In the following years, he turned his attention to the production of small "
conversation pieces Conversation Pieces is a reworking of the Animated Conversations concept. It consists of a series of five shorts which aired on Channel Four between 1982 and 1983. Each of the 5 shorts were five minutes long. As AllAboutAardman explains, "in the ...
" (i.e., groups in oil of full-length portraits from high. Among his efforts in oil between 1728 and 1732 were ''
The Fountaine Family ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' (c.1730), '' The Assembly at Wanstead House'', '' The House of Commons examining Bambridge'', and several pictures of the chief actors in
John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...
's popular ''
The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...
''. One of his real-life subjects was
Sarah Malcolm Sarah Malcolm ( – early March 1733) was a British murderer who was sketched by William Hogarth as she awaited execution for a multiple murder. Life Malcolm came from an Anglo–Irish family in County Durham, where she was born around 1710. Sh ...
, whom he sketched two days before her execution. One of Hogarth's masterpieces of this period is the depiction of an amateur performance by children of
John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
's '' The Indian Emperour, or The Conquest of Mexico by Spaniards, being the Sequel of The Indian Queen'' (1732–1735) at the home of
John Conduitt John Conduitt (; c. 8 March 1688 – 23 May 1737), of Cranbury Park, Hampshire, was a British landowner and Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1737. He was married to the half-niece of Sir Isaac Newton, whom Conduitt s ...
, master of the mint, in St George's Street, Hanover Square. Hogarth's other works in the 1730s include ''
A Midnight Modern Conversation A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' (1733), '' Southwark Fair'' (1733), ''
The Sleeping Congregation ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1736), ''Before'' and ''After'' (1736), '' Scholars at a Lecture'' (1736), ''
The Company of Undertakers ''A Consultation of Physicians, or The Company of Undertakers'' is a 1736 engraving by William Hogarth that satirizes the medical profession. It depicts a coat of arms with three notorious quacks of the time― John Taylor, Sarah Mapp, and Josh ...
'' (1736), '' The Distrest Poet'' (1736), '' The Four Times of the Day'' (1738), and ''
Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn ''Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn'' is a painting from 1738 by British artist William Hogarth. It was reproduced as an engraving and issued with ''Four Times of the Day'' as a five print set in the same year. The painting depicts a compan ...
'' (1738). He might also have printed ''Burlington Gate'' (1731), evoked by
Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's Epistle to
Lord Burlington Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England in 1664 and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831. Since 1858, Earl of Burlington has been a courtesy title used by the duke ...
, and defending Lord Chandos, who is therein satirized. This print gave great offence, and was suppressed. However, modern authorities such as
Ronald Paulson Ronald Howard Paulson (born May 27, 1930 in Bottineau, North Dakota) is an American professor of English, a specialist in English 18th-century art and culture, and the world's leading expert on English Painting, artist William Hogarth. Educati ...
no longer attribute it to Hogarth.


Moralizing art


''Harlot's Progress'' and ''Rake's Progress''

In 1731, Hogarth completed the earliest of his series of moral works, a body of work that led to wide recognition. The collection of six scenes was entitled ''
A Harlot's Progress ''A Harlot's Progress'' (also known as ''The Harlot's Progress'') is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) H ...
'' and appeared first as paintings (now lost) before being published as engravings. ''A Harlot's Progress'' depicts the fate of a country girl who begins prostituting – the six scenes are chronological, starting with a meeting with a
bawd Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
and ending with a funeral ceremony that follows the character's death from
venereal disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral se ...
. The inaugural series was an immediate success and was followed in 1733–1735 by the sequel ''
A Rake's Progress ''A Rake's Progress'' (or ''The Rake's Progress'') is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–1734, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series ...
''. The second instalment consisted of eight pictures that depicted the reckless life of Tom Rakewell, the son of a rich merchant, who spends all of his money on luxurious living, services from prostitutes, and gambling – the character's life ultimately ends in
Bethlem Royal Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably '' Bedlam'', a 1946 film with ...
. The original paintings of ''A Harlot's Progress'' were destroyed in the fire at
Fonthill House Fonthill Gifford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, to the north of the Nadder valley, west of Salisbury. History The name of the village and parish derives from the Giffard family, landowners, beginning with Berenger Giff ...
in 1755; the oil paintings of ''A Rake's Progress'' (1733–34) are displayed in the gallery room at
Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect, John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects, and ...
, London, UK. When the success of ''A Harlot's Progress'' and ''A Rake's Progress'' resulted in numerous pirated reproductions by unscrupulous printsellers, Hogarth lobbied in parliament for greater legal control over the reproduction of his and other artists' work. The result was the Engravers' Copyright Act (known as 'Hogarth's Act'), which became law on 25 June 1735 and was the first copyright law to deal with visual works as well as the first to recognise the authorial rights of an individual artist.


''Marriage A-la-Mode''

In 1743–1745, Hogarth painted the six pictures of '' Marriage A-la-Mode'' (
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
), a pointed skewering of upper-class 18th-century society. This moralistic warning shows the miserable tragedy of an ill-considered marriage for money. This is regarded by many as his finest project and may be among his best-planned story serials. Marital ethics were the topic of much debate in 18th-century Britain. The many marriages of convenience and their attendant unhappiness came in for particular criticism, with a variety of authors taking the view that love was a much sounder basis for marriage. Hogarth here painted a satire – a genre that by definition has a moral point to convey – of a conventional marriage within the English upper class. All the paintings were engraved and the series achieved wide circulation in print form. The series, which is set in a Classical interior, shows the story of the fashionable marriage of Viscount Squanderfield, the son of bankrupt Earl Squander, to the daughter of a wealthy but miserly city merchant, starting with the signing of a marriage contract at the Earl's grand house and ending with the murder of the son by his wife's lover and the suicide of the daughter after her lover is hanged at
Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Ox ...
for murdering her husband.
William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
wrote:
This famous set of pictures contains the most important and highly wrought of the Hogarth comedies. The care and method with which the moral grounds of these pictures are laid is as remarkable as the wit and skill of the observing and dexterous artist. He has to describe the negotiations for a marriage pending between the daughter of a rich citizen Alderman and young Lord Viscount Squanderfield, the dissipated son of a gouty old Earl ... The dismal end is known. My lord draws upon the counsellor, who kills him, and is apprehended while endeavouring to escape. My lady goes back perforce to the Alderman of the City, and faints upon reading Counsellor Silvertongue's dying speech at Tyburn (place of execution in old London), where the counsellor has been 'executed for sending his lordship out of the world. Moral: don't listen to evil silver-tongued counsellors; don't marry a man for his rank, or a woman for her money; don't frequent foolish auctions and masquerade balls unknown to your husband; don't have wicked companions abroad and neglect your wife, otherwise you will be run through the body, and ruin will ensue, and disgrace, and Tyburn.


''Industry and Idleness''

In the twelve prints of ''
Industry and Idleness ''Industry and Idleness'' is the title of a series of 12 plot-linked engravings created by William Hogarth in 1747, intending to illustrate to working children the possible rewards of hard work and diligent application and the sure disasters at ...
'' (1747), Hogarth shows the progression in the lives of two
apprentices Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
, one of whom is dedicated and hard working, while the other, who is idle, commits crime and is eventually executed. This shows the work ethic of
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
England, where those who worked hard were rewarded, such as the industrious apprentice who becomes
Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
(plate 8),
Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
(plate 10), and finally the Lord Mayor of London in the last plate in the series. The idle apprentice, who begins "at play in the church yard" (plate 3), holes up "in a Garrett with a Common Prostitute" after turning
highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footp ...
(plate 7) and "executed at Tyburn" (plate 11). The idle apprentice is sent to the
gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
by the industrious apprentice himself. For each plate, there is at least one passage from the Bible at the bottom, mostly from the
Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs ( he, מִשְלֵי, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different ...
, such as for the first plate: :"Industry and Idleness, shown here, 'Proverbs Ch:10 Ver:4 The hand of the diligent maketh rich.'"


''Beer Street'' and ''Gin Lane''

Later prints of significance include his pictorial warning of the consequences of alcoholism in ''Beer Street'' and ''Gin Lane'' (1751). Hogarth engraved ''Beer Street'' to show a happy city drinking the 'good' beverage,
English beer Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served wit ...
, in contrast to ''Gin Lane'', in which the effects of drinking gin are shown – as a more potent liquor, gin caused more problems for society. There had been a sharp increase in the popularity of gin at this time, which was called the '
Gin Craze The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain, especially in London. Daniel Defoe commented: "the Distillers have found out a way to hit the palate of the Poor, by ...
.' It started in the early 18th century, after a series of legislative actions in the late 17th century impacted the importation and manufacturing of alcohol in London. Among these, were the Prohibition of 1678, which barred popular French brandy imports, and the forced disbandment, in 1690, of the London Guild of Distillers, whose members had previously been the only legal manufacturers of alcohol, leading to an increase in the production and then consumption of domestic gin. In ''Beer Street'', people are shown as healthy, happy and prosperous, while in ''Gin Lane'', they are scrawny, lazy and careless. The woman at the front of ''Gin Lane'', who lets her baby fall to its death, echoes the tale of Judith Dufour, who strangled her baby so she could sell its clothes for gin money. The prints were published in support of the
Gin Act 1751 The Sale of Spirits Act 1750 (commonly known as the Gin Act 1751) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (citation 24 Geo. II c. 40) which was enacted in order to reduce the consumption of spirits, a popular pastime that was regarded as ...
. Hogarth's friend, the magistrate
Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...
, may have enlisted Hogarth to help with propaganda for the Gin Act; ''Beer Street'' and ''Gin Lane'' were issued shortly after his work ''An Enquiry into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers, and Related Writings'', and addressed the same issues.


''The Four Stages of Cruelty''

Other prints were his outcry against inhumanity in ''
The Four Stages of Cruelty ''The Four Stages of Cruelty'' is a series of four printed engravings published by English artist William Hogarth in 1751. Each print depicts a different stage in the life of the fictional Tom Nero. Beginning with the torture of a dog as a ch ...
'' (published 21 February 1751), in which Hogarth depicts the cruel treatment of animals which he saw around him and suggests what will happen to people who carry on in this manner. In the first print, there are scenes of boys torturing dogs, cats and other animals. It centers around a poorly dressed boy committing a violent act of torture upon a dog, while being pleaded with to stop, and offered food, by another well-dressed boy. A boy behind them has graffitied a
hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...
stickman figure upon a wall, with the name "Tom Nero" underneath, and is pointing to this dog torturer. The second shows Tom Nero has grown up to become a
Hackney coach A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common ...
driver. His coach has overturned with a heavy load and his horse is lying on the ground, having broken its leg. He is beating it with the handle of his whip; its eye severely wounded. Other people around him are seen abusing their work animals and livestock, and a child is being run over by the wheel of a dray, as the
drayman A drayman was historically the driver of a dray, a low, flat-bed wagon without sides, pulled generally by horses or mules that were used to transport all kinds of goods. Modern use The word "drayman" is used in U.S. ports as the over the road ...
dozes off on the job. In the third print, Tom is shown to be a murderer, surrounded by a mob of accusers. The woman he has apparently killed is lying on the ground, brutally slain, with a trunk and sack of stolen goods near by. One of the accusers holds a letter from the woman to Tom, speaking of how wronging her mistress upsets her conscience, but that she is resolved to do as he would have her, closing with: "I remain yours till death." The fourth, titled ''The Reward of Cruelty'', shows Tom's withering corpse being publicly dissected by scientists after his execution by hanging; a noose still around his neck. The dissection reflects the
Murder Act 1751 The Murder Act 1751 (25 Geo 2 c 37), sometimes referred to as the Murder Act 1752,Leon RadzinowiczA History of English Criminal Law and Its Administration from 1750 Macmillan Company. 1948. Volume 1. Page 801. was an Act of the Parliament of Gr ...
, which allowed for the public dissection of criminals who had been hanged for murder.


Portraits

Hogarth was also popular
portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...
. In 1745, he painted actor
David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
as
Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
, for which he was paid £200, "which was more", he wrote, "than any English artist ever received for a single portrait." In 1746, a sketch of
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (c. 1667 – 9 April 1747, London), nicknamed the Fox, was a Scottish Jacobitism, Jacobite and Scottish clan chief, Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat, known for his feuding and changes of allegiance. In 1715, he ...
, afterwards beheaded on Tower Hill, had an exceptional success. In 1740, he created a truthful, vivid full-length portrait of his friend, the philanthropic Captain Coram, for the
Thomas Coram Foundation for Children The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London which uses the working name Coram (formerly Coram Family). It originated as part of England's oldest children's charity, the Foundling Hospital, established by ro ...
, now in the
Foundling Museum The Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Collection as well as the Gerald ...
. This portrait, and his unfinished oil sketch of a young fishwoman, entitled ''
The Shrimp Girl ''The Shrimp Girl'' is a painting by the English artist William Hogarth. It was painted around 1740–1745, and is held by the National Gallery, London. The painting, a relatively late work by Hogarth, is one of several in which he experiment ...
'' (
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
), may be called masterpieces of British painting. There are also portraits of his wife, his two sisters, and of many other people; among them Bishop Hoadly and Bishop
Herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
.


Historical subjects

For a long period, during the mid-18th century, Hogarth tried to achieve the status of a
history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
, but did not earn much respect in this field. The painter, and later founder of the
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
,
Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
, was highly critical of Hogarth's style and work. According to art historian
David Bindman David Bindman (born 1940) is emeritus Durning-Lawrence professor of the history of art at University College London and has been a research fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research (formerly W. E. B. Du Bois Research I ...
, in
Dr Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709  – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...
's serial of essays for London's ''Universal Chronicle'', '' The Idler'', the three essays written by Reynolds for the months of September through November 1759 are directed at Hogarth. In them, Reynolds argues that this "connoisseur" has a "servile attention to minute exactness" and questions their idea of the imitation of nature as "the obvious sense, that objects are represented naturally when they have such relief that they seem real." Reynolds rejected "this kind of imitation", favouring the "grand style of painting" which avoids "minute attention" to the visible world. In Reynolds' ''Discourse XIV'', he grants Hogarth has "extraordinary talents", but reproaches him for "very imprudently, or rather presumptuously, attempt ngthe great historical style." Writer, art historian and politician,
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
, was also critical of Hogarth as a history painter, but did find value in his satirical prints.


Biblical scenes

Hogarth's history pictures include ''The Pool of Bethesda'' and ''The Good Samaritan'', executed in 1736–1737 for
St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...
; ''Moses brought before Pharaoh's Daughter'', painted for the
Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...
(1747, formerly at the
Thomas Coram Foundation for Children The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London which uses the working name Coram (formerly Coram Family). It originated as part of England's oldest children's charity, the Foundling Hospital, established by ro ...
, now in the
Foundling Museum The Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Collection as well as the Gerald ...
); ''Paul before Felix'' (1748) at
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
; and his altarpiece for St. Mary Redcliffe,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
(1755–56).


''The Gate of Calais''

''
The Gate of Calais ''The Gate of Calais'' or ''O, the Roast Beef of Old England'' is a 1748 painting by William Hogarth, reproduced as a print from an engraving the next year. Hogarth produced the painting directly after his return from France, where he had been ...
'' (1748; now in
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
) was produced soon after his return from a visit to France.
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
wrote that Hogarth had run a great risk to go there since the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle:
he went to France, and was so imprudent as to be taking a sketch of the drawbridge at
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
. He was seized and carried to the governor, where he was forced to prove his vocation by producing several
caricatures A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
of the French; particularly a scene of the shore, with an immense piece of beef landing for the ''Lion d'argent'', the English inn at Calais, and several hungry friars following it. They were much diverted with his drawings, and dismissed him.
Back home, he immediately executed a painting of the subject in which he unkindly represented his enemies, the
Frenchmen The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the nati ...
, as cringing, emaciated and superstitious people, while an enormous sirloin of beef arrives, destined for the English inn as a symbol of British prosperity and superiority. He claimed to have painted himself into the picture in the left corner sketching the gate, with a "soldier's hand upon my shoulder", running him in.


Other later works

Notable Hogarth engravings in the 1740s include ''
The Enraged Musician ''The Enraged Musician'' is a 1741 etching and engraving by English artist William Hogarth which depicts a comic scene of a violinist driven to distraction by the cacophony outside his window. It was issued as companion piece to the third state ...
'' (1741), the six prints of '' Marriage à-la-mode'' (1745; executed by French artists under Hogarth's inspection), and ''
The Stage Coach or The Country Inn Yard ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1747). In 1745, Hogarth painted a self-portrait with his pug dog,
Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
(now also in
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
), which shows him as a learned artist supported by volumes of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
,
Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
and
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...
. In 1749, he represented the somewhat disorderly English troops on their '' March of the Guards to Finchley'' (formerly located in
Thomas Coram Foundation for Children The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London which uses the working name Coram (formerly Coram Family). It originated as part of England's oldest children's charity, the Foundling Hospital, established by ro ...
, now
Foundling Museum The Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Collection as well as the Gerald ...
). Others works included his ingenious '' Satire on False Perspective'' (1754); his satire on canvassing in his ''
Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'' series (1755–1758; now in
Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect, John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects, and ...
); his ridicule of the English passion for
cockfighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...
in ''The Cockpit'' (1759); his attack on
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
in '' Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism'' (1762); his political anti-war satire in ''The Times'', plate I (1762); and his pessimistic view of all things in '' Tailpiece, or The Bathos'' (1764). In 1757, Hogarth was appointed
Serjeant Painter The Serjeant Painter was an honourable and lucrative position as court painter with the English monarch. It carried with it the prerogative of painting and gilding all of the King's residences, coaches, banners, etc. and it grossed over £1,000 ...
to the King.


Writing

Hogarth wrote and published his ideas of artistic design in his book ''
The Analysis of Beauty ''The Analysis of Beauty'' is a book written by the 18th-century artist and writer William Hogarth, published in 1753, which describes Hogarth's theories of visual beauty and grace in a manner accessible to the common man of his day. The "Li ...
'' (1753). In it, he professes to define the principles of beauty and grace which he, a real child of
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
, saw realized in serpentine lines (the
Line of Beauty Line of beauty is a term and a theory in art or aesthetics used to describe an S-shaped curved line (a serpentine line) appearing within an object, as the boundary line of an object, or as a virtual boundary line formed by the composition of s ...
). By some of Hogarth's adherents, the book was praised as a fine deliverance upon aesthetics; by his enemies and rivals, its obscurities and minor errors were made the subject of endless ridicule and caricature. For instance,
Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Life and work Sandby was ...
produced several caricatures against Hogarth's treatise. Hogarth wrote also a manuscript called ''Apology for Painters'' (c.1761) and unpublished "autobiographical notes".


Painter and engraver of modern moral subjects

Hogarth lived in an age when artwork became increasingly commercialized, being viewed in shop windows,
tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...
s, and public buildings, and sold in printshops. Old hierarchies broke down, and new forms began to flourish: the
ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Singspiel'', its disti ...
, the
bourgeois tragedy Bourgeois tragedy (German: ''Bürgerliches Trauerspiel'') is a form of tragedy that developed in 18th-century Europe. It is a fruit of the enlightenment and the emergence of the bourgeois class and its ideals. It is characterized by the fact that ...
, and especially, a new form of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
called the novel with which authors such as
Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...
had great success. Therefore, by that time, Hogarth hit on a new idea: "painting and engraving modern moral subjects ... to treat my subjects as a dramatic writer; my picture was my stage", as he himself remarked in his manuscript notes. He drew from the highly moralizing
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
tradition of Dutch genre painting, and the very vigorous satirical traditions of the English broadsheet and other types of popular print. In England the fine arts had little comedy in them before Hogarth. His prints were expensive, and remained so until early 19th-century reprints brought them to a wider audience.


Parodic borrowings from Old Masters

When analysing the work of the artist as a whole,
Ronald Paulson Ronald Howard Paulson (born May 27, 1930 in Bottineau, North Dakota) is an American professor of English, a specialist in English 18th-century art and culture, and the world's leading expert on English Painting, artist William Hogarth. Educati ...
says, "In ''
A Harlot's Progress ''A Harlot's Progress'' (also known as ''The Harlot's Progress'') is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) H ...
'', every single plate but one is based on Albrecht Dürer, Dürer's images of the story of the Mary, the mother of Jesus, Virgin and the story of the Passion (Christianity), Passion." In other works, he parodies Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper (Leonardo), Last Supper. According to Paulson, Hogarth is subverting the religious establishment and the orthodox belief in an immanent God who intervenes in the lives of people and produces miracles. Indeed, Hogarth was a Deist, a believer in a God who created the universe but takes no direct hand in the lives of his creations. Thus, as a "comic history painter", he often poked fun at the old-fashioned, "beaten" subjects of religious art in his paintings and prints. Hogarth also rejected Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Shaftesbury's then-current ideal of the Art in ancient Greece#Classical, classical Greek male in favour of the living, breathing female. He said, "Who but a bigot, even to the antiques, will say that he has not seen faces and necks, hands and arms in living women, that even the Grecian Venus (goddess), Venus doth but coarsely imitate."


Personal life

On 23 March 1729, Hogarth eloped with Jane Hogarth, Jane Thornhill at St Mary on Paddington Green Church, Paddington Church, against the wishes of her father, the artist
Sir James Thornhill Sir James Thornhill (25 July 1675 or 1676 – 4 May 1734) was an English painter of historical subjects working in the Italian baroque tradition. He was responsible for some large-scale schemes of murals, including the "Painted Hall" at the Ro ...
. Sir James saw the match as unequal, as Hogarth was a rather obscure artist at the time. However, when Hogarth started on his series of moral prints, ''A Harlot's Progress'', some of the initial paintings were placed either in Sir James' drawing room or dining room, through the conspiring of Jane and her mother, in the hopes of reconciling him with the couple. When he saw them, he inquired as to the artist's name and, upon hearing it, replied: "Very well; the man who can produce such representations as these, can also maintain a wife without a Marriage portion, portion." However, he soon after relented, becoming more generous to, and living in harmony with the couple until his death. Hogarth was initiated as a Freemason before 1728 in the Lodge at the Hand and Apple Tree Tavern, Little Queen Street, and later belonged to the Carrier Stone Lodge and the Grand Stewards' Lodge; the latter still possesses the 'Hogarth Jewel' which Hogarth designed for the Lodge's Master to wear. Today the original is in storage and a replica is worn by the Master of the Lodge. Freemasonry was a theme in some of Hogarth's work, most notably 'Night', the fourth in the quartet of paintings (later released as engravings) collectively entitled the ''Four Times of the Day''. His main home was in Leicester Square (then known as Leicester Fields), but he bought a country retreat in Chiswick in 1749, the house now known as Hogarth's House and preserved as a museum, and spent time there for the rest of his life. The Hogarths had no children, although they fostered foundling children. He was a founding Governor of the
Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...
. Among his friends and acquaintances were many English artists and satirists of the period, such as Francis Hayman,
Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...
, and Laurence Sterne.


Death

On 25 October 1764, Hogarth was conveyed from his villa in Chiswick to his home in Leicester Fields, in weak condition. He had been in a weakened state for a while by this time, but was said to be in a cheerful mood and was even still working—with some help; doing more retouches on ''The Bench (Hogarth), The Bench'' on this same day. On 26 October, he received a letter from Benjamin Franklin and wrote up a rough draught in reply. Before going to bed that evening, he'd boasted about eating a pound of beefsteaks for dinner and reportedly looked more robust than he had in a while at this time. However, when he went to bed, he suddenly began vomiting; something that caused him to ring his bell so forcefully that it broke. Hogarth passed away around two hours later, in the arms of his servant, Mrs Mary Lewis. John Nichols (printer), John Nichols claimed that he died of an aneurysm, which he said took place in the "chest." Horace Walpole claimed that he died of "a dropsy of his breast." Mrs Lewis, who stayed on with Jane Hogarth in Leicester Fields, was the only non-familial person acknowledged financially in Hogarth's will and was left £100 (approximately £18,651.61 in 2020) for her "faithful services." Hogarth was buried at St. Nicholas Church, Chiswick, now in the west of London. His friend, actor
David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
, composed the following inscription for his tombstone:


Influence and reputation

Hogarth's works were a direct influence on John Collier (caricaturist), John Collier, who was known as the "Lancashire Hogarth". The spread of Hogarth's prints throughout Europe, together with the depiction of popular scenes from his prints in faked Hogarth prints, influenced Continental book illustration through the 18th and early 19th centuries, especially in Germany and France. He also influenced many caricaturists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Hogarth's influence lives on today as artists continue to draw inspiration from his work. Hogarth's paintings and prints have provided the subject matter for several other works. For example, Gavin Gordon (composer), Gavin Gordon's 1935 ballet ''The Rake's Progress (ballet), The Rake's Progress'', to choreography by Ninette de Valois, was based directly on Hogarth's series of paintings of that title. Igor Stravinsky's 1951 opera ''The Rake's Progress'', with libretto by W. H. Auden, was less literally inspired by the same series. Hogarth's engravings also inspired the BBC radio play ''The Midnight House'' by Jonathan Hall, based on the M. R. James ghost story "The Mezzotint" and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006. Russell Banks' short story "Indisposed" is a fictional account of Hogarth's infidelity as told from the viewpoint of his wife, Jane. Hogarth was the lead character in Nick Dear's play ''The Art of Success'', whilst he is played by Toby Jones in the 2006 television film ''A Harlot's Progress (film), A Harlot's Progress''. Hogarth's House in Chiswick, west London, is now a museum; the major road junction next to it is named the Hogarth Roundabout. In 2014 both Hogarth's House and the Foundling Museum held special exhibitions to mark the 250th anniversary of his death. In 2019,
Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect, John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects, and ...
, which owns both ''The Rake's Progress'' and ''Humours of an Election, The Humours of an Election'', held an exhibition which assembled all Hogarth's series of paintings, and his series of engravings, in one place for the first time. Stanley Kubrick based the cinematography of his 1975 period drama film, ''Barry Lyndon'', on several Hogarth paintings. In Roger Michell's 2003 film ''The Mother (2003 film), The Mother'', starring Anne Reid and Daniel Craig, the protagonists visit Hogarth's tomb during their first outing together. They read aloud the poem inscribed there and their shared admiration of Hogarth helps to affirm their connection with one another.


Selected works

;''Paintings'' File:William Hogarth - Before - Google Art Project.jpg, Before and After (Hogarth), ''Before'', 1731 File:William Hogarth - After - Google Art Project.jpg, Before and After (Hogarth), ''After'', 1731 File:PortraitInigoJones.jpg, ''Portrait of Inigo Jones, English Architect'' File:Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox, 1729 by William Hogarth.jpg, ''The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox'', 1729 File:William Hogarth 016.jpg, ''
The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...
VI'', 1731, Tate Britain's version (22.5 x 30 ins.) File:Hogarth-southwark-fair.jpg, ''Southwark Fair'', 1733 File:William Jones, the Mathematician.jpg, ''William Jones, the Mathematician'', 1740 File:Hogarth coram.jpg, Hogarth's Portrait of Captain Thomas Coram, 1740 File:Miss Mary Edwards - Hogarth 1742.jpg, ''Miss Mary Edwards'' 1742 File:William Hogarth - The Shrimp Girl - WGA11467.jpg, ''
The Shrimp Girl ''The Shrimp Girl'' is a painting by the English artist William Hogarth. It was painted around 1740–1745, and is held by the National Gallery, London. The painting, a relatively late work by Hogarth, is one of several in which he experiment ...
'' 1740–1745 File:William Hogarth - O the Roast Beef of Old England ('The Gate of Calais') - Google Art Project.jpg, ''
The Gate of Calais ''The Gate of Calais'' or ''O, the Roast Beef of Old England'' is a 1748 painting by William Hogarth, reproduced as a print from an engraving the next year. Hogarth produced the painting directly after his return from France, where he had been ...
'' (also known as, ''O the Roast Beef of Merry England, Old England''), 1749 File:William Hogarth 007.jpg, '' March of the Guards to Finchley'' (1750), a satirical depiction of troops mustered to defend London from the 1745 Jacobite rebellion File:William Hogarth by William Hogarth.jpg, ''Hogarth Painting the Comic Muse''. A self-portrait depicting Hogarth painting Thalia (muse), Thalia, the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry, 1757–1758 File:William Hogarth 004.jpg, ''The Bench (Hogarth), The Bench'', 1758 File:Hogarths-Servants.jpg, ''Hogarth's Servants'', mid-1750s. File:William Hogarth 028.jpg, ''Humours of an Election, An Election Entertainment'' featuring the anti-Gregorian calendar banner "Calendar (New Style) Act 1750#Reaction and effect, Give us our Eleven Days", 1755. File:William Hogarth 032.jpg, William Hogarth's Election series, ''Humours of an Election'', plate 2 File:William Hogarth - The Sleeping Congregation - 58.10 - Minneapolis Institute of Arts.jpg, ''The Sleeping Congregation'', 1728, Minneapolis Institute of Art
;''Engravings'' File:Hogarth-rehearsal.jpg, An early print of 1724, '' A Just View of the British Stage'' File:William Hogarth - Industry and Idleness, Plate 11; The Idle 'Prentice Executed at Tyburn.png, ''
Industry and Idleness ''Industry and Idleness'' is the title of a series of 12 plot-linked engravings created by William Hogarth in 1747, intending to illustrate to working children the possible rewards of hard work and diligent application and the sure disasters at ...
'', plate 11, ''The Idle 'Prentice executed at Tyburn'' Image:William Hogarth - Simon, Lord Lovat.png, William Hogarth's engraving of the Jacobitism, Jacobite Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Lord Lovat prior to his execution File:John Wilkes Esq by William Hogarth.JPG, Hogarth's satirical John Wilkes Esq., engraving of the radical politician John Wilkes. File:Hogarth Before.jpg, Engraving, Before and After (Hogarth), ''Before'' the 1736 print, based on the earlier "oyl" File:Hogarth After.jpg, Engraving, ''After''


See also

* English art * List of works by William Hogarth *
Ronald Paulson Ronald Howard Paulson (born May 27, 1930 in Bottineau, North Dakota) is an American professor of English, a specialist in English 18th-century art and culture, and the world's leading expert on English Painting, artist William Hogarth. Educati ...
, the world's leading expert on Hogarth * Judy Egerton, Hogarth curator, cataloguer, and commentator


Notes


References

* William Hogarth, John Bowyer Nichols, ed. ''Anecdotes of William Hogarth, Written by Himself'' (J. B. Nichols and Son, 25 Parliament Street, London, 1833) * Peter Quennell, ''Hogarth's Progress'' (London, New York, Ayer Co., 1955, ) * Quennell, Peter. "Hogarth's Election Series." ''History Today'' (Apr 1953) 3#4 pp 221–232 * Frederick Antal, ''Hogarth and His Place in European Art'' (London 1962). * Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, ''Ausführliche Erklärung der Hogarthischen Kupferstiche'' (Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1972, ) * Sean Shesgreen, ''Hogarth 101 Prints'' (New York: Dover 1973). *
David Bindman David Bindman (born 1940) is emeritus Durning-Lawrence professor of the history of art at University College London and has been a research fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research (formerly W. E. B. Du Bois Research I ...
, ''Hogarth'' (London 1981). * Sean Shesgreen, ''Hogarth and the Times-of-the-Day Tradition'' (Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1983). *
Ronald Paulson Ronald Howard Paulson (born May 27, 1930 in Bottineau, North Dakota) is an American professor of English, a specialist in English 18th-century art and culture, and the world's leading expert on English Painting, artist William Hogarth. Educati ...
, ''Hogarth's Graphic Works'' (3rd edn, London 1989). * Ronald Paulson, ''Hogarth'', 3 vols. (New Brunswick 1991–93). * Elizabeth Einberg, ''Hogarth the Painter'' (London: Tate Gallery, 1997). * Jenny Uglow, ''Hogarth: A Life and a World'' (London 1997). * Frédéric Ogée and Hans-Peter Wagner, eds., ''William Hogarth: Theater and the Theater of Life'' (Los Angeles, 1997). * Hans-Peter Wagner, ''William Hogarth: Das graphische Werk'' (Saarbrücken, 1998; revised edition, Trier 2013). *
David Bindman David Bindman (born 1940) is emeritus Durning-Lawrence professor of the history of art at University College London and has been a research fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research (formerly W. E. B. Du Bois Research I ...
, Frédéric Ogée and Peter Wagner, eds. ''Hogarth: Representing Nature's Machines'' (Manchester, 2001) * Bernadette Fort, and Angela Rosenthal, eds., ''The Other Hogarth: Aesthetics of Difference'' (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2001) * Christine Riding and Mark Hallet, "Hogarth" (Tate Publishing Ltd, Tate Publishing, London, 2006). * Robin Simon
''Hogarth, France and British Art: The rise of the arts in eighteenth-century Britain''
(London, 2007) * Ilias Chrissochoidis,
Handel, Hogarth, Goupy: Artistic intersections in Handelian biography
, ''Early Music'' 37/4 (November 2009), 577–596. * Bernd W. Krysmanski, ''Hogarth's Hidden Parts: Satiric Allusion, Erotic Wit, Blasphemous Bawdiness and Dark Humour in Eighteenth-Century English Art'' (Hildesheim, Zurich, New York: Olms-Verlag, 2010 ) * Johann Joachim Eschenburg, ''Über William Hogarth und seine Erklärer'', ed. Till Kinzel (Hanover: Wehrhahn, 2013 ) * Cynthia Ellen Roman, ed., ''Hogarth's Legacy'' (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2016) * Elizabeth Einberg, ''William Hogarth: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings'' (New Haven and London, Yale University Press for Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2016)


External links

* *
''The Works of William Hogarth'', 1822 Heath edition (engravings, with commentaries by John Nichols)

William Hogarth's biography, style, artworks and influencesHogarth & John Wilkes - UK Parliament Living Heritage

William Hogarth at The National Gallery



The Site for Research on William Hogarth
(annotated online bibliography)
Print series in detail

Hogarth exhibition at Tate Britain, London
(7 February – 29 April 2007)
William Hogarth at Wikigallery
* *
Location of Hogarth's grave on Google Maps

''The Analysis of Beauty'', 1753
(abridged 1909 edition)


'Hogarth's London'
lecture by Robin Simon at Gresham College, 8 October 2007 (available for download as MP3, MP4 or text files)
Hogarth's London video
hosted at
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
's website by Martin Rowson
William Hogarth's Works
hosted at The Victorian Web {{DEFAULTSORT:Hogarth, William William Hogarth, 1697 births 1764 deaths 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 18th-century English male artists Painters from London English caricaturists English cartoonists English engravers English illustrators English satirists English printmakers 18th-century English painters English male painters Court painters Artist authors Political artists Social critics Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England